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Funeral procession stops at Burger King drive-through for one last Whopper in Manchester Township

David S. Kime Jr., 88, of West York, enjoyed eating fast food daily. His family honored him Saturday with a trip to the Burger King drive-through before he was buried.

By BRANDIE KESSLER Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated:
01/28/2013 12:44:33 PM EST

Linda Phiel places a WHOPPER Jr. on the casket to be buried with her father David Kime Jr. at Prospect Hill Cemetery on Saturday. Phiel and other mourners went through the drive-through at Burger King and each got the hamburger in his honor. ( YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)

Margaret Hess, the head manager at Burger King in Manchester Township, passes out a WHOPPER Jr. to a mourner of David Kime Jr. (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)

York, PA -

On the way to his final resting place Saturday, David S. Kime Jr.'s loved ones took a spin through the Burger King drive-through on the corner of Route 30 and Pennsylvania Avenue for one last WHOPPER JR.

The 88-year-old West York man died Jan. 20 at York Hospital.

"He always lived by his own rules," said Linda Phiel, one of Kime's three daughters. "His version of eating healthy was the lettuce on the WHOPPER JR."

As a tribute to a man who loved fast food, Phiel's family stopped for some burgers on the way to the cemetery. Mourners followed the hearse carrying Kime's flag-draped casket through the drive-thru. Each got a WHOPPER JR.

The sandwich was among Kime's favorites.

"He liked his WHOPPER JRs.," said Margaret Hess, head manager of the Manchester Township Burger King. She and her staff prepared 40 of the sandwiches for the funeral procession.

"They also wanted one for the deceased," Hess said.

Phiel said the display wasn't a joke, rather a happy way of honoring her father and the things that brought him joy.

"All of us are going to be in this position," she said. "And I think there's a certain group who think we should be crying. But on the other hand, he lived a wonderful life and on his own terms."

Phiel said her father did what he wanted and ate what he wanted since her mother, Grace, died about 25 years ago.

"My mother kind of kept him in check," Phiel said. "When she died, for a while, he would eat with us. But he considered us health freaks because we ate things that were green, like broccoli."

Kime was borderline diabetic for years and had a pacemaker. Phiel told him a healthy diet would help him live longer.

"He would say, 'I won't live longer, it will just seem like it because I'll be more miserable faster,'" Phiel said.

Her father wasn't a big man, only about 5 feet tall, but he could eat.

"He was not prejudiced," Phiel said. "He would go to any fast food place anyone invited him to."

He liked tacos, pizza, hamburgers, subs and hot dogs.

"He would take his Cadillac, which he loved, and drive up to Hanover and have a gut-buster," Phiel said, referring to hot dogs. "If it wasn't the kind of day to drive out to Hanover, he would drive out to Wiener World on Memory Lane."

After a while, Phiel gave up lecturing her father.

"When you're 88 years old, I guess you've earned the right to do what you want to do," she said.

Though the tribute to her father was light-hearted, it was hard to say goodbye.

When Phiel placed the WHOPPER JR. atop the spray of lilies and roses on her father's casket, she started to cry.

The hearse carrying David Kime Jr. pulls up to the drive-through at the Burger King in Manchester Township on Saturday. (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)

But knowing her father lived a full life gives her solace.

"I think his biggest fear was that he not be able to live as he chose," she said. "I'm so grateful he never had to."

A Burger King first

After working for Burger King for 34 years, Margaret Hess saw something new Saturday: a funeral procession at her drive-through.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Hess, the head manager of the Manchester Township Burger King.

The idea was to honor David S. Kime Jr., a World War II veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart. The 88-year-old West York man loved to eat fast food, and dined at various places every week. He died Jan. 20 at York Hospital from heart complications.

Hess said she didn't know Kime by name, but she knew his face and remembered he ordered WHOPPER JRs.

"It's nice to know he was a loyal customer up until the end -- the very end," Hess said.

Margaret Hess, the head manager at Burger King in Manchester Township, begins to pack the WHOPPER Jrs. on Saturday in preparation for the funeral procession for David Kime Jr. ( YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)

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